§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the impact of the New Deal on employment in(a) Lancashire, (b) the North-West Region and (c) Burnley. [123556]
§ Ms Jowell3,971 young people in Lancashire had found work through the New Deal by the end of March 2000. The equivalent figures for the North-West and Burnley are 30,921 and 260 respectively.
It is likely to prove difficult to assess the impact of New Deal on specific localities. Independent evaluation at national level has, however, shown that New Deal helps people leave unemployment more quickly and has increased employment, and reduced unemployment, by more than would otherwise have happened. It has also suggested that the programme will be close to self-financing.
With the help of New Deal, long-term youth unemployment has been virtually eliminated. Since April 1998 the number of 18–24 year olds claiming JSA for more than a year has fallen from 400 to 50 in Lancashire, from 6,700 to 800 in the North-West and from 12 to two in Burnley.
§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures he is taking to alert school leavers to the availability of New Deal options. [123878]
§ Ms JowellGeneral information about New Deal and the options is available to school leavers through the Careers Service. There are, however, no plans to promote options in any detail to this group as we hope that they will move into work before they become eligible to join New Deal through the help and advice offered either by the Careers Service or by the Employment Service.
§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research his Department has(a) carried out and (b) commissioned into the reasons for which people leave the unemployment register while remaining unemployed instead of entering the New Deal Gateway. [123880]
§ Ms JowellYoung people leave Jobseeker's Allowance at all stages of their unemployment duration and not just at the point of joining New Deal. Information on the reasons for leaving Jobseeker's Allowance by duration of unemployment is published monthly by the Office for National Statistics in Labour Market Trends.
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§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what help is given to prisoners on leaving prison to enter the New Deal Gateway; and if this help is monitored; [123879]
(2) if discharged remand prisoners, are given help to enter the New Deal Gateway. [123881]
§ Ms JowellUnemployed offenders and discharged remand prisoners have equal access to employment, training and education and are able to count the period of detention towards the qualifying period for Employment Service programmes. They may enter New Deal from the first day after being released.
Separate management information is not collected on the number of offenders who enter ES programmes, so monitoring of progress overall cannot be undertaken nationally. However, the progress of individuals may be monitored locally by the Employment Service and Probation Service as part of working in partnership with each other.
To help with the transition from custody to employment, the Employment Service have developed a National Framework Document that assists agencies to establish and develop local agreements. The National Framework has been developed in close working partnership with the Prison Service, the Probation Service, the Benefits Agency and the TEC National Council. Local agreements ensure that offenders are aware of employment, training and education opportunities open to them and their responsibility to find work.
§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people in each month since April 1997 were unemployed for over six months but were excluded from the claimant count because they were undertaking a New Deal Option, broken down into those aged(a) 18 to 24 and (b) under 18 or over 24 years. [125179]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 9 June 2000]Since the national roll out of New Deal in January 1998, 163,800 young people have started New Deal options. The claimant count includes only those persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. People undertaking a New Deal option are not in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance and are therefore, by definition, not included in the count.
§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people who have completed the New Deal once have(a) re-entered the gateway to New Deal for a second time and (b) gone onto a second New Deal option. [125180]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 9 June 2000]In the period ending March 2000, 34,870 young people had re-entered the New Deal Gateway. Of these, 10,170 had started a New Deal option.